Has anyone used or made one for a 5 gallon bucket?

I've seen them in catalogs and since I use a 12 gal "ShopVac" for dust collecting, I wondered how good this would work. Might save $$ on the dust bags.

There's also one listed for a 30 gal trash can but I don't know if my vac is big enough.

Thanks

 

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Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana

Harry,

HERE is a link to Phil Thien's site.  His separator lid is the most often referenced when talking about chip separation when using a Shop Vac as a dust collector.  The plans, I think are for a 33 gal trashcan.  I think you could size it for what you need.

The site that Greg gave you is a good one.

I use a 1.5HP Delta DC and have it attached to a 33 gallon trashcan with a seperator lid that I purchased through Rockler some years ago. That is attached to some ducting which runs over the garage door and over to 2 drops with blast gates so I can run 1 tool at a time. This has worked very well for my needs in my shop without any problems over the years. All the big stuff ends up in the trashcan while he fine stuff ends up in the DC bag. I will typically empty the trashcan two times for every one time I empty the DC bag.

Rockler and Woodcraft and other woodworking stores have sold the seperator lids for both the 33 gallon cans and 5 gallon buckets. The principle is sound and they work well, but Thien's is a better and more efficient design. I did a quick search on Rockler's site and I didn't find the seperator lids like I use but they do have a seperator system for Shop Vac use with a 10 gallon drum with seperator lid and fittings on wheels which will work out well.

 

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=30068&filter=seperator

 

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

I was lucky enough to score a Delta 1.5 hp dust collector off of Craig's List. The gentleman I purchased it from had this http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2004310/8939/Mini-Dust-Collection-Separator.aspx separator in the deal. I modified the lid to include the Thien "plywood insert". That was over a year ago. I have yet to empty the plastic bag on the bottom of the Delta collector. There is probably less than an inch of dust in it.

Thanks for the offer, Arlin. I don't think this would work with the size Shopvac that I have.It is very generous of you to offer it but there may be somebody out there that can make better use of this one.

I might try making one like from the site Gene has linked to and adjust sizes to fit my vac.

Again, thanks for the offer.

Harry

It is very generous
Arlin Eastman said:

Harry

     I use the Dust Duputy.  It the 5 gal bucket and I love using it with my floor vac.  It even collects most of the dust, however, I am going to put both of them on a single plywood with wheels and have a piece that hold the top on. 

     If you need something for a barrel I have the one from Woodcraft that I paid $55 for.  You can have it if you pay the shipping.  It is a 4" hole and it works awesome for a big DC.  It is much easier to dump a can them the plastic catcher on the bottom of the DC.

I would rather give away things to you guys that need stuff then sell them to others.

Arlin

Keep us posted Harry on what you do. I am sure others are interested in this also.

 

I have a setup similar to Allen. I do have piping to all of my machines with gates on each one. I have the separator lid on a 33 gal metal trash can. It works really good. Like the others I probably empty the can twice to one time for the plastic bag. I have the Delta DC 1 1/2 hp motor. 

 

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John Moody
John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

I'll let you know what I end up doing. It may be a few weeks before I do anything.

I had the other cataract fixed Tuesday so doc said NO dust or anything like that for 2 weeks! It's sure nice to be able to see again with out the fog.

Because of the size of my shop vac and the tools that hook to it's hose, I'm leaning toward the 5gal cyclone.May be able to use it to pick up under the table saw with out filling up the bag so often.

 

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Harry Brink
Bulldog Woodworking
Montana